How much do you pay for your phones?

[fatiimaa]

Hello all. I was wondering recently how much do you guys pay for your devices, and how do you purchase them?

I always finance my devices. I used to finance through my carrier, but now I generally use Samsung directly as it is much more hassle free with better trade-in prices. Regardless of the price, I don't have the kind of money that phones cost these days.

Last phone I purchased brand new that was financed was the Galaxy Note 9. It was 800 bucks. I generally like to try to stick to the 700-800 dollar range personally as that can net you a pretty decent device without breaking the bank. I don't think I have ever spent more than that on a device.

between 1000$ to 1500$

 

[swebb]

What I plan on paying? ~$400. What I end up paying? $600-$800.

 

[Morty2264]

What I plan on paying? ~$400. What I end up paying? $600-$800.

Yeah, I feel like that's the case when it comes to a phone you want and it's just within reach...

 

[EnthalpiousKitten]

My current phone (S10 Lite) was $650 after tax and all. Most expensive cell phone I ever bought, and second most expensive Android device. I will pay as much as I need to if the price is a good deal for the amount of RAM, storage and most importantly that raw n' juicy CPU/GPU power I need (don't laugh at me, I'm a rabid power user).

 

[the_boon]

I always buy phones used from eBay or Swappa (seeing how fast they lose their resale value), unless they're niche form factors I want to support (like BB, Unihertz, etc) then I buy brand new from them.

 

[anon(50597)]

I always buy phones used from eBay or Swappa (seeing how fast they lose their resale value), unless they're niche form factors I want to support (like BB, Unihertz, etc) then I buy brand new from them.

I do the same. I haven’t paid the full outrageous price for a phone in years.

 

[spARTacus]

I think phones are ridiculously expensive and the trend of wanting to constantly buy new latest and greatest models seems destructive to us as a society. Lately I've been noticing how many used phones, tablets, laptops, PCs and other tech there is for sale, and the de-valuation from new prices is just remarkable. I bought a used flat screen monitor a few weeks back for $20, and a separate used complete Windows10 system (tower, keyboard, mouse, flat screen monitor) for $100. With the ability for factory reset nowadays as part of most tech that has OSs, I feel the risk of viruses and such from old users is basically zero. I am not sure if I will ever pay full new price for a phone anymore.

 

[Morty2264]

I think phones are ridiculously expensive and the trend of wanting to constantly buy new latest and greatest models seems destructive to us as a society. Lately I've been noticing how many used phones, tablets, laptops, PCs and other tech there is for sale, and the de-valuation from new prices is just remarkable. I bought a used flat screen monitor a few weeks back for $20, and a separate used complete Windows10 system (tower, keyboard, mouse, flat screen monitor) for $100. With the ability for factory reset nowadays as part of most tech that has OSs, I feel the risk of viruses and such from old users is basically zero. I am not sure if I will ever pay full new price for a phone anymore.

You're right. Any kind of tech addiction is definitely an expensive one, and sometimes it's hard to justify paying so much money for tech that you'll only use for a while.

 

[tadpoles]

You're right. Any kind of tech addiction is definitely an expensive one, and sometimes it's hard to justify paying so much money for tech that you'll only use for a while.

^^^This^^^

Yet that is where a lot of my $$$$ goes.

 

[joeldf]

I always go through my carrier, AT&T. But I typically keep my phones beyond the purchase terms period.

Plus, I used to get refurbs, but AT&T doesn't offer those like they used to. But that was a cost saving - particularly for two BlackBerry phones I had purchased that way - a Torch 9800 back in 2010, and a Z10 in 2013. I never would have bought those at original full price.

Got the Galaxy S8 in late 2017 at a reduced monthly price during a sales period. But a fateful drop that took out my screen kind of forced me to the S9 only a year and a half later. Was able to upgrade to the S20 FE early this year, also at a reduced price per month ($10 a month).

I've been with Cingular/AT&T long enough (since the late 90s) to go through their good customer service times and bad customer service times. I don't ever deal with them about hardware. Only with our account. And really, we've only had a hard time with them once - one of those "buy one get one free" deals that never worked out. They've actually been easy to work with most of the time.

 

[the_boon]

Would definitely help resale value and calm down over consumerism if manufacturers extended the release cycles for their products.

 

[Morty2264]

Would definitely help resale value and calm down over consumerism if manufacturers extended the release cycles for their products.

You make a very valid point.

 

[towngirl]

No way I am paying yrs for my phone, on a plan (in the end, costs You more).

Last phone I purchased was an open box. Before that, they phone was cheaper and I bought new and paid.

Honestly, phones need to come down in price and be cheaper to fix if something goes wrong.

 

[Morty2264]

No way I am paying yrs for my phone, on a plan (in the end, costs You more).

Last phone I purchased was an open box. Before that, they phone was cheaper and I bought new and paid.

Honestly, phones need to come down in price and be cheaper to fix if something goes wrong.

I agree - phones cost too much these days.

 

[tadpoles]

I agree - phones cost too much these days.

I always wonder if it's because these little devices are just as much small hand-held computers as much as anything we can can talk into and communicate with. They just do so much...voice communication, internet access, increasingly better cameras, etc. Yeah, I think their utility factors in largely.

 

[cnotes2019]

I always wonder if it's because these little devices are just as much small hand-held computers as much as anything we can can talk into and communicate with. They just do so much...voice communication, internet access, increasingly better cameras, etc. Yeah, I think their utility factors in largely.

It’s deception. they want you to think they do more like computers , cameras etc when they really don’t.

 

[tadpoles]

It’s deception. they want you to think they do more like computers , cameras etc when they really don’t.

Hmmmm....

 

[Morty2264]

I always wonder if it's because these little devices are just as much small hand-held computers as much as anything we can can talk into and communicate with. They just do so much...voice communication, internet access, increasingly better cameras, etc. Yeah, I think their utility factors in largely.

Oh, absolutely! And then there are so many things that can go *wrong* with a phone, too. All that costs money to repair or to make a new model that you know customers will just exchange. It's a never-ending process!

 

[the_boon]

Oh, absolutely! And then there are so many things that can go *wrong* with a phone, too. All that costs money to repair or to make a new model that you know customers will just exchange. It's a never-ending process!

Usually by the time you want to replace the battery and / or OLED screen on a used phone, the same phone on the used market could cost not much more than the price of parts and labor to get the old one like new again... depreciation just hits these things too hard

 

[anon(50597)]

Usually by the time you want to replace the battery and / or OLED screen on a used phone, the same phone on the used market could cost not much more than the price of parts and labor to get the old one like new again... depreciation just hits these things too hard

Very true. That’s why I almost always buy used.